A note on the last article: In discussing the matter of access between Chicago’s downtown and its airport, I neglected to mention two important issues about such links that generally apply to places throughout the country. One, that they’re too often proposed as elixirs (even “money-makers”) for struggling transportation agencies and thus that they are sometimes prioritized over more important projects; and two, that the City of Chicago would do well if it truly thought over the value of such a connection before it pushed its construction. The second is especially relevant considering the clear current federal emphasis on high-speed intercity projects. Last year, French national railroad company SNCF proposed a bypass loop around Chicago, running through the airport, as an essential element of its proposal for a Midwest high-speed rail project, but didn’t suggest a direct fast downtown-airport connection. Perhaps that should put in question what is the more important investment for the whole region.

For those hoping high-speed rail could be a non-partisan issue, this week likely served as an ugly wake-up call. In Wisconsin, which received hundreds of millions of dollars from the Obama Administration earlier this year, GOP gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker has been making a big deal about how he would return the money if he’s elected to office later this fall. This isn’t new news from Walker, who’s been fighting the project for months, but now he has created a special website designed to criticize the Milwaukee-Madison intercity rail project, which he’s opposing because it would require the state to chip in annual operating subsidies. He prefers investing in roads subsidies instead.

Over at the California High-Speed Rail Blog, Robert Cruickshank has detailed the push by Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman to delay funding for the high-speed rail project between Los Angeles and San Francisco. Her Democratic rival Jerry Brown supports a project speed-up, whatever that means.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journalsuggests that the $8.5 billion in requests for funding the DOT received for a $2.3 billion pot earlier this month means that states are backing off from high-speed rail because of the now-required 20% local commitment. This, evidently, is too much for many states, especially those controlled by conservatives who are uninterested in putting up their own money.

Bruce, you should read some of Hans-Joachim Zierke’s postings on rural regional rail first. Start here or here. It’s based on success stories from Germany, and is different from the existing doomed-to-fail Amtrak concept of intercity rail with a few rural stops.

SNCF proposed a bypass loop around Chicago, running through the airport, as an essential element of its proposal for a Midwest high-speed rail project, but didn’t suggest a direct fast downtown-airport connection. Perhaps that should put in question what is the more important investment for the whole region.

Regional transport to the airport and a downtown-airport link are two different markets, really. I could see a Chicago-hubbed HSR network stopping at both the airport and downtown, but should such a network automatically be assumed to have enough capacity to handle airport-downtown riders as well?